Pedro De Mena, Seventeenth-Century Spanish Sculptor

Author:

Anderson, Janet

Year:

1998

Pages:

316

ISBN:

0-7734-8481-7978-0-7734-8481-8

Price:

219.95

To Pedro de Mena, the revitalization of art forms in the Seventeenth Century Baroque style provided opportunity and stimulus to create an outstanding oeuvre of carved life-size sculptures in wood. Major cathedrals and museums throughout Spain house his effigies of royalty, saints and madonnas. They are highly realistic, profoundly Baroque, and vividly emotional. Retrieving much from limited resources in Spanish, this unique study retraces Mena's life and prolific production, complete with a catalogue raisonné and over a hundred rare photographs, many never previously published. At last, Mena's extraordinary contribution to sculpture is made available in this scholarly text. Illustrations, bibliography, documents, and index.

Reviews

"Enhanced by a superb catalogue raisonné, her monograph brings to light the life and work of this eminent Spanish Baroque sculptor to an English-speaking audience. Dr. Anderson's thorough photographic documentation and meticulous examination of Mena's sculptures in situ provide fresh evidence of his remarkable sculptural abilities. She gives additional insight into his working methods through her detailed discussion of sculptural techniques. . . . Since little is known about Pedro de Mena, especially among English-speaking audiences, Dr. Anderson's monograph makes an important contribution to the scholarship on him and his artistic and social milieus. Her insightful text will prove informative to the specialist and general reader alike." - Elizabeth A. Walker